The Last Dragon Chronicles: Fire World: Fire World (17 page)

“I thought not,” said the Aunt. “Rosanna it is. Listen closely, my dear. There are

going to be some changes in the running of this building, now that your beloved curator has gone.” She clicked her fingers. Two identical Aunts walked into the

room. Both were dressed in the manner of

Aunt Gwyneth: grey two-piece suit, plainblack shoes. Like the Re:movers, theyboth wore ties. Maroon bow ties against awhite, collared blouse. The tie of thewoman on the right was at a slightlycrooked angle. She kept adjusting it, asthough it was a constant embarrassment. Itwas the only way to tell the two of themapart.

“Who are you people?” David said. Hewas recovered again now and on his feet.

Aunt Gwyneth said, rather haughtily, “We are what brought you into being, David. And we will decide your fate.

Rosanna,  meet  Aunts   Primrose   and Petunia. They are not clones. They are thatrare commodity, twins. They will be yourkeepers,   during   the   period   ofre:assessment.”

“Keepers?” Rosa’s eyes darted over

the women.

“You do want company, don’t you?”

“I’ve
 
got
 
company, thanks.”

Aunt Gwyneth swung her chair. “If you’re referring to David, I’m afraid you’re mistaken. His time here is done. He is going home.” She raised a finger to shut Rosa up. “At his mother’s request, I might add. Tell me, David, what good-hearted boy could possibly refuse? Especially now you have a sister as well.”

“Sister?” he said.

“Penelope. Quite a sparky creation.

Artificially aged to eight and a half byyour father’s dangerous, unauthorisedexperiment. She is keen to meet herunkempt,   if  really  rather  handsome,brother. I took the trouble to order you ataxicar. It’s right outside. Don’t keep itwaiting.”

“David?” Rosa said. She ran across theroom and plunged into his arms.

He stared at Aunt Gwyneth over Rosa’sshoulder.   “What  do   you  mean  by ‘re:assessment’? What’s going to happento the building if I go?”

“The Aunts will survey it and make areport. A new curator will then beappointed. That is the law, David.”

For a moment, he thought about it. “Allright, but I’m taking Rosa with me.”

Rosa stepped back then, gripping his

forearms. “No. Our place is here, taking care of the books. It’s what Mr Henry would have wanted.”

“How touching,” Aunt Gwyneth said, without any hint of warmth or sincerity. “David, let me see if I can make your decision easier.” She sat back, steepling her wrinkled fingers. “Oh, yes. Rosanna
 
can’t
 
leave here. She was committed by her parents and they must give permission for her re:moval. That is also the law. The

trouble is, her parents are dead.”

“What?” said Rosa.

“Well… ” Aunt Gwyneth twizzled a hand. “They voluntarily left for the Dead Lands. That’s as good as dead. Which means you are officially an orphan, my dear. That puts you under my jurisdiction. And as I can’t afford to have you trailing

round after me or interfering with my work, I’ve decided that this building will house you – for life. So there’s your predicament, David. Rosanna stays here. You must choose between her or your mother.”

David took a shuddering breath.

“Don’t leave me,” said Rosa. “Please, don’t go.”

“I’ll come back,” he said, pulling her hands off his arms.

“No,” she begged him. “The building needs us. You can’t just leave behind everything we’ve done.” The Aunt called Petunia stepped forward and held her.

“I promise, I’ll come back,” he said to her again. And with one last glance at her beautiful eyes, he moved towards the door. He was right on the threshold when

she cried out bitterly: “If you go, I won’t
 
want
 
you back!”

David paused as if a cold spear had passed through his heart. He closed his hand tight around the golden ring, and reimagineered it to its proper shape. Clutching his father’s micro:pen, he walked out without another word.

“I do believe it’s going to rain,” said Aunt Gwyneth.

And she swung her chair towards the window and smiled.

5

Meanwhile, upstairs on Floor 108, a verydifferent kind of meeting was taking place. In the time it had taken David Merriman to

hurry downstairs and learn of the death of Mr Henry, the red firebird, Azkiar, had flown with great haste to Aurielle’s room, to inform her, first and foremost, that he’d encountered humans on Floor 43 and… Well, he was out of breath before he could deliver the next part of his story and by then Aurielle was flapping her wings in a dire panic and immediately suggesting they sound the alarm and wake the flock. Azkiar sighed. He hopped from foot to foot and fluffed his feathers. Why did Aurielle
 
never
 
listen to him all the way

through? And she called him impatient? He fluttered to her book perch and raised his eyes to the
 
Tapestry of Isenfier
 
. Looking at it now made his heart skip a beat. With a snort, he turned his gaze back to the table where Aurielle was still

scratting about. There was no need for defensive action, he assured her, because he’d seen the man leave and close the door behind him (he’d tracked back, silently, just to be sure).
 
Man?
 
Aurielle’s ear tracts widened. Once again Azkiar started to explain and once again the cream bird interrupted him.
 
The curator?
 
she asked, paddling her feet.
 
The curator has discovered the code?
 
At that point Azkiar almost wished he’d just gone to his nest and slept for a spin.
 
It was the boy that Rosa calls David
, he said.
 
Except he

isn’t a boy any more. He’s grown
 
.

Now although this information was undoubtably of great magnitude, it was not the principal ingredient of Azkiar’s report. Before he could get to the
 
vital
 
disclosure, Aurielle had turned aside yet again and started doing her pacing thing. She tottered towards the centre of the table, feeling the creaks in the joints of her knees. They had not been so good since the onset of the jolt, which supported her belief that she’d aged because of it. She had spotted signs of aging in Azkiar, too. The slightly greying fringes at the tips of his ear tufts. The general lack of shine in his normally glossy feathers. If what he was saying about David was accurate, there was no doubt that a time shift had occurred. But

what had caused it? And what did it

mean? She paused by the candlesticks, now righted again. Between them, in the traditional nest of sticks where a firebird would place a hatching egg, was the egg that Aurielle had found in the Dead Lands.

Since the jolt, it had grown to three timesits size and was clearly going to openbefore long. The tear she had picked upamongst the daisies had disappearedduring the confusion, but Aurielle wascertain it had merged with the egg. Whatelse could explain the changes in the clay? The egg had grown a shell, like a firebirdegg. The only anatomical difference beingthat instead of bright colours pulsinground the skin there was a plain whiteglow coming off the surface. Whateverwas inside, it wasn’t a firebird. But fornow, Aurielle was saying nothing about

that.

Azkiar gave an impatient squawk.
 
Mmm, yes
 
, Aurielle muttered, aware that he needed some kind of response. Quickly, she settled on a course of action.
 
She must meditate on his discovery
, she said, which was not the answer Azkiar was waiting for. To her alarm, he flew down to the table and chased her twice

round the candlesticks.
 
Meditate? How many hours and spins had she wasted, brooding over this woven cloth, bending his ear tufts with her theories?
 
He collared her against a high-backed chair.
 
Downstairs was visible proof that the tapestry actually
 
meant
 
something
.
 
If she didn’t believe him, she should go and investigate the humans herself.
 
(He was not aware at that point that David had

been sent away by Aunt Gwyneth.) Aurielle gulped and tightened up the muscles of her beak, drawing it slightly away from his.
 
Yes, she could do that
 
, she said, but then in a very timid voice added that she still didn’t
 
quite
 
understand what he was getting at? All right, a human had triggered the door, but that in itself didn’t mean very much. Azkiar sighed and turned

away.
 
It’s not the door
 
, he said.
 
It’s David, the man. I’ve seen him before – and so have you.

And therein lay the nub of the puzzle. For when Aurielle quite rightly suggested that Azkiar’s senses were becoming addled because she had not been present on Floor 43 when he had encountered the grown-up David, Azkiar twizzled his glowing ear tufts and pointed a wing at the

Tapestry of Isenfier
 
. And at last he wasable to finish his report and tell her whyhe had backed away quickly when he’dcornered David in the fiction department. He pointed to two of the pictured humans:a man, cradling a woman in his arms.
 
Them
, he said to the stunned Aurielle,
 
They were the humans I saw on Floor 43. They are David and Rosa.

6

“I thought you’d be taller.”

“Hmph,” said David. “Well, I’m quite a lot bigger than you.”

“I’m only
 
nine
 
.”

“Eight and a bit, actually. I am tall, anyway. I’m over six feet.”

“And very handsome,” Eliza Merriman said. She stopped what she was doing and came to sit down at the kitchen table.

“I’ve got longer hair than you,” Penelope said. She pulled a strand of her blonde curls down towards her shoulder.

David tilted his head and let his wavyhair fall. “Yes, but mine does that withouthelp.”

“Well, mine’s springy!” the girl said

furiously.

“All right,” said Eliza. “It’s not a

competition. I love you both – just the way

you  are.   Hair,  height,   shoe   size… temperament.”

“My shoes are size four.”

“Thank you. Duly noted. Look, why don’t you make your brother feel at home by making him a nice cup of tea?”

“Make?” said David. (The verb was unusual on Co:pern:ica.)

His mother waved him silent.

“OK, I’ll put the kettle on,” Penelope said. (Even more unusual.)

“Yes, Penny put the kettle on,” her mother echoed, almost singing the words.

The little girl jumped up and ran to the sink.

“She doesn’t imagineer very well,”

said Eliza, keeping her voice low so the child wouldn’t hear. “Her fain is there, but she hasn’t had the chance to learn how to use it, probably because of the ageing process – and the way she was born. We’ll talk about it later, when we’re alone. Just indulge her for now – and don’t mention Harlan.”

“She doesn’t know about Dad?”

“No. And I want to keep it that way for

now.”

“Are   we   having  cake   as   well,

Mummy?”

“The   best,”   Eliza   said,   sending Penelope scurrying to the fridge.

“Oh, Boon!” the girl tutted, almostknocking the katt sideways as she yankedthe door open. “Get out of the way!”

Boon chuntered and righted his course.

He spent a sec or two imperiously lickinghis tail, then jumped up and settled on David’s lap as if his owner had neverbeen away.

“Hey, Penny?” David said, stroking Boon’s head. He ran his thumb inside theshell of the ‘imperfect’ ear.

“Yes?”

“I brought you a present from thelibrarium.”

“Did you?”

“Mmm. It’s in my room.”

“Where? On the bed?”

“I’m not saying. You’ve got to find it.”

Penny put the kettle down and was gonein a flash.

“Well, there goes your cup of tea,”

Eliza said.

“It’s all right, it was deliberate – so we

can talk.”

Eliza glanced down the arm of the pod that led to David’s room. “Don’t be silly. She’ll be back at any moment.”

“No, she won’t,” he grinned. “I’m moving her present around until I need her to find it.”

“You can do that? From a distance?”

Eliza stared at him in wonder. “Your

father always said you would reinvent the rules of imagineering.”

“I need to find him, Mum.”

She looked away, trying to resolve her hurt. “David, he killed someone. It was all over the t:com news. If you go after him, I’ll lose you both.”

David rested his fingers against Boon’s neck. “Mr Henry’s death was an accident. Dad made a mistake, but he’s not a